Best
by sunnyamazing
Summary: Post episode: The Babe in the Bar: All anyone can do is their best, perhaps that is what they are trying to do now.


_So this is something that I wrote at 4am, I was trying to sleep but the thoughts and words just kept on moving around in my head so I had to respect the muse and turn the laptop on and write. Therefore I apologise if it is a muddle or completely rubbish. I would however love comments, they make me very happy._

_This is post episode The Babe in the Bar and I think it's a one-shot, unless the muse stamps her foot and wants more._

_Nothing is mine, just my overactive imagination._

**Best**

His eyes stared at the ceiling above him, the room was dark and there was blonde hair fanned over his chest. He should have been asleep, asleep comfortable in the knowledge that his girlfriend was back from her trip with the president. But at this moment he only felt like an ass. He hadn't been himself since Afghanistan, he could feel it and now unfortunately the people around him were feeling it too.

Tonight he had skipped out on his Jeffersonian family, something that he had never done before to spend time with Hannah. Bones had given him an out and he had taken it immediately, without thinking about what exactly that meant, what exactly that meant to choose Hannah so blatantly over the rest of them, to choose Hannah over her. He shifted in the bed, moving Hannah to one side, she moved peacefully, snuggling into the sheets, her face calm and relaxed.

He slipped out from the sheets, finding his robe from the pile of clothes on the floor. Inwardly he sighed as he made his way out of the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind him so as not to wake the sleeping Hannah. Silently he walked into the living room, switching on the light as he did so, slumping onto the sofa, his feet finding a resting place on the table in front of him.

He had seen Bones' face when he had left her to go to the gathering alone, she'd tried to cover her disappointment but to someone that knew her as he did, she'd failed. It had only been a second of a different look, but he had seen it, he'd seen it and then ignored it, just as he had failed to respond to her whole love being an idiot conversation starter. He wasn't, he couldn't have another discussion with Bones about love, they'd never ended well, so he had ignored her topics of conversation once again. Ignoring had been his best weapon since he had arrived back in Washington, it was easy to ignore something when it wasn't there in front of you each day, even easier when where you were, you were being shot at, bullets flying towards you tended to distract from anything else that had seemed important once. Now that he was back however, things had become confused once more. He was back at the bureau and he was solving murders once again, Bones was back at the Jeffersonian and she was able to as she always could have the bones talk to her, tell her what had happened to the person that they had belonged to. They were both back, but things weren't the same, nothing was the same. Booth knew that Bones didn't believe in change, but he wondered if she felt the same way he did, that things now were so different than they had been in the past. He'd been the one to change things, he knew that, it was him that had brought someone home from one of the far corners of the globe that the two of them had run to but that was what he thought he'd wanted.

[-]

She'd fallen asleep in her clothes, her legs tucked under her coat, perched upon her sofa. It had been late when she had gotten in, the announcement of the Hodgins-Montenegro baby news had taken on a party like atmosphere and the drinks had flowed late into the evening. Once Hodgins had gotten over the fact that Angela hadn't been able to keep a secret he had been particularly excitable, making all sorts of plans for his future progeny. By the time Brennan had stood up to leave, Hodgins was imagining a son who would stand by his father and create experiments. Angela had been laughing, asking her husband what he would think if their daughter decided to be an artist. It was then that they had all suggested their own ideas as to what the future child would become, Mr Nigel-Murray had suggested that Angela began teaching the child facts that could make them one day the super reigning champion of Jeopardy, Cam had suggested that Angela play music to the child so that he could perhaps follow his grandfather, Sweets had suggested reading to the child, claiming that he had read a psychological study that in-utero reading could help develop social skills in later life. It was when they looked at her for her response that she had shocked them all, she knew that they had been expecting her to have some scientific response about the bones of the unborn, such as Angela making sure she had the correct amount of calcium, but that hadn't been what she had said. She'd told them just to make sure that their child was happy.

She'd watched their collective jaws drop, before they each collected themselves agreeing wholeheartedly with her opinion. It was then that she had taken her leave and told them all good-bye, leaving the conversation to continue without her. Of course Angela had followed her out into the night, tapping her on the shoulder.

"He's gone to be with her, hasn't he?" Angela had asked as the two of them sat on the bench outside.

Brennan had simply nodded, she couldn't think of anything to say at that possible moment that would make any difference.

"Things are different aren't they?"

"Things never stay the same Ange," Brennan had replied, "Everything is transient in this life,"

"So telling me that I should make sure my child is happy? What was that about Bren?"

"I just think it's important for a child to be happy," she'd answered, wishing that she had just said what they had all expected her to say, a simple scientific rational answer, not what she had said, an irrational ramble from her currently confused brain which had quite possibly been affected by the three and half large glasses of red wine she had drank that evening.

"It is important for everyone to be happy Bren," Angela had replied as her hand moved to cover one of Brennan's, "That includes you sweetie."

She'd smiled with as much effort as she could muster and even though she knew she was a terrible liar and Angela would know the exact truth she'd whispered into the darkness, "I am happy Angela," and with that she had turned to her friend, hugged her once and then stood up, leaving Angela alone on the bench.

She hadn't turned back to look at her once, she had simply power walked around the corner, flagged down a taxicab and headed home. Once home she had made her way to where she was now, she sighed to herself as she contemplated getting up and going to her actual bed, she pulled her legs out from underneath her but remained on the sofa, she stared out into the room, once she had said she didn't believe she could change, but day by day recently she was beginning to realise that things did change and not for the best. Angela had been right earlier this evening, things were different and her life was different.

[-]

As he sat there his feet balancing on the table he began to realise that he actually did care what had happened at the Founding Fathers earlier that evening. He had skipped out on them, but that still didn't mean that he didn't care. They'd been his friends, his people, for far longer than Hannah had been his girlfriend; all of them had been his surrogate relationship when he hadn't had one. He sighed once more, why had he forgotten that? Why had he forgotten who had been there when everything had gone to crap? Perhaps this was just something else that he had been ignoring. He'd been an idiot, no he'd been an ass. He reached to his left and found his cell, scrolling until he found the number he wanted, typing a message quickly and sending it before he could chicken out.

Her cell bleeped from her pocket, she instantly knew who it was and suddenly things didn't feel so different after all, she smiled as she read the message.

_So how mad was Hodgins? None of you can lie to save yourselves._

He stood up and headed back to his bedroom as a reply came back, his cell vibrating in his hand.

_We did our best. He worked it out though._

Booth sighed as he walked back into his bedroom; perhaps that was what everyone was doing at this point in time, their best.


End file.
